ARTS, BRIEFLY; Leadership Change For History Museum

By KATE TAYLOR

Published: June 28, 2011

Brent Glass, the director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, who oversaw a two-year renovation that answered some of the criticisms of the museum, will retire effective July 10. An acting director is to be appointed in July, and Mr. Glass will continue as an adviser to the Smithsonian through the end of the year.

Mr. Glass, 64, arrived in 2002, shortly after a commission appointed by the Smithsonian's Board of Regents submitted a stinging report on the museum in which it noted a lack of ''aesthetic appeal, organizational coherence and the perception of substantive balance.'' He oversaw an $85 million renovation that created a new, light-filled atrium and reorganized the museum's layout; he also introduced new exhibitions, including ''The Price of Freedom,'' a narrative of the nation's wars.

In a statement praising Mr. Glass's accomplishments, the chief official of the Smithsonian, G. Wayne Clough, noted that the museum now received twice as many visitors as it had before the renovation, which was completed in 2008. The Smithsonian said that a search for a replacement would start immediately and be overseen by Richard Kurin, the Smithsonian's under secretary for history, art and culture.

This is a more complete version of the story than the one that appeared in print.